Priyanka Chopra, who has often expressed her deep bond with her late father, has a tattoo on her wrist that reads ‘Daddy’s lil girl’ in his handwriting. Her father passed away in 2013 after an eight-year-long battle with cancer, a period Dr. Madhu described as the “most vulnerable moment” of her life during an interview with the YouTube channel Something Bigger Show.
Recalling the family’s efforts to secure the best possible treatment for Dr. Ashok Chopra, Dr. Madhu said, “He was very ill. My brother said if you think he has five percent chance of survival, bring him to Boston. And that was another task, getting him on a plane, because none of the airlines wanted to take such a serious patient even though we gave disclaimers.”
At that time, Priyanka was filming Krrish. When Hrithik Roshan and Rakesh Roshan learned of the situation, they used their connections to help the family transport Dr. Ashok to Boston for treatment. Dr. Madhu recalled, “It just so happened that Priyanka was shooting Krrish with Hrithik and Rakesh Roshan, so she shared her worries with them. He asked her ‘why are you crying?’ and then both father and son made that possible for the airlines to take us. They helped us, put in a word, they knew people.”
Dr. Madhu also revealed her husband’s decision to keep his illness private, explaining how he internalized his struggles to protect the family. “He told me not to tell anybody, not in the family, we will go through it ourselves. That was the hardest time to see this mountain slowly getting weak and dealing with something. He couldn’t share his anxiety, his worries, and he was internalising it all. I felt I was being kept outside, but it was that he didn’t want me to be worried, which is why he was not sharing. I felt I am not being treated as a true partner. I didn’t know if I should fight it, understand it, or be gentle with him or be angry with him. That was a hard time,” she said.
